Sports
Vinton County Leaves Everything on the Court in Final Game
By: Delaney Ruth
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In the last three years the Vinton County Vikings have come through with a win in the Sectional Championship game. This year, however, they fell to the Warren Warriors in a lively, but ultimately heartbreaking game.
Warren entered Friday night’s game seeded third while Vinton County came in seeded sixth, so the Vikings knew that this game could quite possibly be their last. Although the Vinton County boys’ season ended Friday night, they never stopped fighting.
In the first quarter, Warren came out strong with a ton of energy, barreling through Vinton County’s defense and putting up 20 points. No one player for the Warriors stood out as every man in the rotation was playing meaningful minutes. Warren’s points were evenly distributed between their starting five.
This was not the case for the Vikings. Gavin Arbaugh was leading his team on the court tonight, finishing the game with 18 points. Arbaugh slowed down the offense, allowing Vinton County to take their time finding the right shots.
Senior Eli Griffith was determined to not have this game be his last. He was a force on the post, scoring 16 points. But his efforts were not enough to carry his team away from a loss.
The second quarter was more of the same and Warren went into halftime up 32-26.
In the third quarter, Vinton County came back for a minute and made it a 1-point game. The offense was sparked by Will Arthur. Arthur finished the game with 11 points – 10 of which came in the second half.
As the third quarter came to a close, Brandon Simionette pulled up from three and canned a shot as the buzzer sounded, to put Warren up eight going into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, Warren started to pull away and kept control of the ball. Vinton County ran a full court press and Warren was able to take advantage and score easy transition points.
Vinton County never gave up the fight, playing hard until the last whistle.
The Vikings end their season at 12-11. Meanwhile, now 15-7 Warren, advances to play Jackson on Thursday night in the District Semi-Finals.